Languages of Westeros

There are many languages spoken in Westeros. The following is a list of the most commonly known:

• First TongueThe ancient language of the First Men. This language is still spoken among the Giants.

• Andalish (Common)The language of the Andals, which supplanted that of the First Men, is also known as the Common Tongue of Westeros, the official language of the Seven Kingdoms. The Andals also brought a superior writing system that supplanted the First Men's runes. Almost all of the early history of Westeros was written after the Andal invasions, causing it to have an Andal perspective.

• RhoynishThe language of the Rhoynar people that constitute modern day Dorne.

• High ValyrianThe language of the people of the doomed city of Valyria.

• Free Cities ValyrianA bastardized form of the language of the people of Valyria that predominates in the East. This includes the Free Cities, Yunkai, Mereen, and Astapor.

• BraavosiThe language of the people of Braavos.

• MyrishThe language of the people of Myr.

• DothrakiThe language of the nomadic horse people that roam the Dothraki plains. The name for the Dothraki people — and their language — derives from the verb “dothralat” (“to ride”).

The Dothraki have four different words for “carry,” three for “push,” three for “pull” and at least eight for “horse,” but no word that means “please” or “follow.”

The longest word in Dothraki is “athastokhdeveshizaroon,” which means “from nonsense.”

The words for “related,” “weighted net,” “eclipse,” “dispute,” “redhead,” “oath,” “funeral pyre,” “evidence,” “omen,” “fang” and “harvest moon” all have one element in common: “qoy,” the Dothraki word for “blood.”